Interactional synchrony: A reappraisal.

The probabilities of observing interactional synchrony (i.e., the precise coordination of body movement boundaries between interactants) were determined for all combinations of 2 or more people in a single 6-person discussion group (3 males and 3 females) comprising friends and strangers. It was found, using the binomial test, that only 1 dyad out of 57 comparisons showed significantly more synchrony than expected by chance. The hypothesis predicting more synchrony between friends than between stranger pairings was not supported. Also, the expectation that at speaker-switching locations, synchrony would be greater between consecutive-speaker than between speaker–listener pairings was not confirmed. However, a latency effect was significant; more synchrony was observed at switching locations where the interval of silence between contributions by successive speakers was 0–.5 sec than when overlapping speech occurred. Even this result was equivocal, since the observed probabilities of synchrony at all switching locations were not significantly different from chance occurrence. Previous studies emphasizing the dependence of human communication on interactional synchrony are questioned. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pain and suffering: A reappraisal.

In clinical settings concerned with pain problems, the concepts of pain and suffering are often confounded. This article draws distinctions between the two and between suffering and disability. A series of studies is reviewed bearing on these distinctions. Implications for evaluation and management of clinical pain are then discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handedness measured by finger tapping: A continuous variable.

258 boys and 225 girls (ages 5 yrs 1 mo to 13 yrs 2 mo) were shown how to tap with the index finger using a tapping apparatus and were then asked to tap as fast as possible. Handedness was established by asking S to show how he/she would perform each of several activities. Left/right differences in performance were found to be linearly related to preference as expressed by laterality quotients. The differences were distributed symmetrically about their mean but deviated significantly from a normal distribution in terms of kurtosis. Results support M. Annett's (see record 1977-20225-001) finding that handedness is a continuous variable. (French summary) (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reappraisal of Wilhelm Wundt.

Reexamines the psychology of Wundt on the occasion of the centenary of his influence in founding experimental psychology. Historical accounts of Wundt that arose in the early 20th century are considered as heavily in error, particularly concerning the issues of mind-body dualism, elementalism, and associationism. The central theme in Wundt's psychology is selective volitional attention. Modern cognitive psychology and research on human information-processing revives Wundt's work. Examples are given in 6 areas: cognitive control, psycholinguistics, abnormal behavior, emotion, information-processing, and cultural psychology. The influence of changing and conflicting Zeitgeists upon Wundt's psychology is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Feature detectors for speech: A critical reappraisal.

A review of the literature shows that in the past decade, most theoretical accounts of speech perception have stressed the role of feature detectors in mapping initial auditory transforms of the speech signal onto features or phonemes. Several types of experiments are often viewed as supporting the feature detector hypothesis. These include electrophysiological studies of the visual and auditory systems of nonhuman species, studies of categorical perception of speech sounds by human adults and infants, and especially, studies of selective adaptation to speech sounds. The present article argues that evidence for feature detectors in speech perception is equivocal at best and that there are compelling reasons to reject the detector hypothesis (e.g., lack of firm consensus regarding the nature of detector outputs). (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analogue versus clinical depression: A critical reappraisal.

Much of the existing psychological literature on depression is based on research with college students. An important question is whether depression in college students represents an appropriate analog of depression in clinical patients. The purpose of the present article is to review past evidence on this issue from a critical perspective. Past arguments are examined, and little support is found for the position that depression research with college students is not warranted. Moreover, the results of studies with student and clinical samples are compared, and the findings are generally similar across populations. Next, a number of methodological issues are identified that may actually favor the use of depressed college students, and some methodological recommendations for future research are outlined. Finally, an appeal is made for research that directly examines the analog–clinical issue and the nature of college student depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The developmental origins of bimanual coordination: A dynamic perspective.

Patterns of interlimb coordination associated with infant reaching fluctuate frequently over developmental time. This study investigated whether these fluctuations are related to coordination tendencies. Interlimb patterns were studied in reaching and nonreaching movements in 4 infants, which were followed through their 1st year. Each week, reaching and nonreaching endpoint kinematics were recorded in both arms during multiple 14-s trials. It was found that patterns of interlimb coordination in reaching matched coordination tendencies in nonreaching. Reaching fluctuated between uni- and bimanual periods. During the bimanual periods, nonreaching interlimb activity tended to be synchronous. During the unimanual periods, nonreaching activity revealed no predominant form of interlimb coordination. It is argued that changing coordination tendencies may influence the organization of specific goal-oriented behaviors from early in life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extraversion-introversion as a dimension of personality: A reappraisal.

The continued research interest in extraversion-introversion (EI) has centered around the unidimensionality of the construct and its relationship to adjustment. Research published since 1953 has failed to clarify these issues substantially, leaving the status of EI as a fruitful construct rather tenuous. (97 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond fiasco: A reappraisal of the groupthink phenomenon and a new model of group decision processes.

Provides a comprehensive evaluation of the groupthink phenomenon (I. L. Janis; 1971, 1972, 1982). The evaluation indicates that research does not provide convincing support for the validity of the groupthink phenomenon or for the suggestion that groupthink characteristics lead to negative outcomes. This review, coupled with evidence from other literature suggested by a problem-solving perspective and a direct examination of groupthink implicit assumptions, guided the development of a new, more general model termed the general group problem-solving model. This model incorporates a variety of antecedent conditions, emergent group characteristics, decision process characteristics, and group decision outcomes. Following the review and model development, potential concerns relating to the model are discussed, the allure of groupthink is addressed, and implications of the analysis for group problem solving as well as directions for future research are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Nuremberg Code and the Nuremberg Trial. A reappraisal

The Nuremberg Code includes 10 principles to guide physician-investigators in experiments involving human subjects. These principles, particularly the first principle on "voluntary consent," primarily were based on legal concepts because medical codes of ethics existent at the time of the Nazi atrocities did not address consent and other safeguards for human subjects. The US judges who presided over the proceedings did not intend the Code to apply only to the case before them, to be a response to the atrocities committed by the Nazi physicians, or to be inapplicable to research as it is customarily carried on in medical institutions. Instead, a careful reading of the judgment suggests that they wrote the Code for the practice of human experimentation whenever it is being conducted.     

Psychopathology and early experience: A reappraisal of retrospective reports.

Three potential sources of error in retrospective reports of childhood experiences are documented: low reliability and validity of autobiographical memory in general, the presence of general memory impairment associated with psychopathology, and the presence of specific mood-congruent memory biases associated with psychopathology. The evidence reviewed suggests that claims concerning the general unreliability of retrospective reports are exaggerated and that there is little reason to link psychiatric status with less reliable or less valid recall of early experiences. Nevertheless, it is clear that steps must be taken to overcome the limitations of retrospective reports and enhance their reliability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A centennial reappraisal: Introduction.

This article is an overview of the special issue "G. Stanley Hall's Adolescence: A Centennial Reappraisal." First, a brief biography of Hall is presented. Then each of the six articles in the special issue is summarized. Three of the articles are by historians and three are by psychologists, but all six articles integrate history and psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multifinger tapping performance as a function of the direction of tapping movements.

What can the study of finger movements in typing, especially with respect to directional aspects, tell us about the way in which office and data-processing machine keying operations can be improved? "Five male Ss were given 3-minute trials at each of five keyboard positions for 20 consecutive days. The keyboard, consisting of the eight keys of the starting position of a typewriter, was hinged in the middle, so that the direction of tapping movements, could be varied from horizontal to vertical. The task was a simple alternation of both fingers and hands." Relatively poor performance with the standard horizontal keyboard and other findings suggest the possibility of much improved keyboards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The hyperkinetic child: Effect of incentives on the speed of rapid tapping.

Studied 36 hyperkinetic and 36 control boys, ages 8-11, on a rapid-tapping task. Ss were divided into 3 incentive groups: 1 allowed to respond freely (U), 1 encouraged to tap rapidly (S), and 1 given pennies for increasing their tapping rate (R). As expected, the R and S groups tapped more rapidly than the U groups. When analyzed separately, no significant incentive group differences were found for hyperkinetics. The moderately fast tapping of the hyperkinetics, regardless of group, resulted in U hyperkinetics tapping more rapidly than U controls, but when incentive was introduced (S and R groups), controls were able to tap faster than the hyperkinetics. This inability of the hyperkinetics to adaptively adjust to the changing incentive conditions is suggested to be a function of defects in brain structures regulating arousal and concentration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A reappraisal of Wundt's influence on social psychology.

Discusses the social psychology of Wundt and its link to current developments in the constructionist movement in modern psychology. The historical lines of descent from Wundt's experimental psychology to American behaviorist social psychology are traced, and the relationship between Wundt's (1911) Volkerpsychologie to the social scientists who kept alive Wundt's social psychological orientation and who figure as antecedents of postmodern constructionism is delineated. With historical hindsight, the behaviorist program for social psychology may now be seen as an aberrant detour around the fundamental questions of social psychology. The questions asked by Wundt appear to be perennial questions. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The beat goes on: Rhythmic modulation of cortical potentials by imagined tapping.

A frequency analysis was used to tag cortical activity from imagined rhythmic movements. Participants synchronized overt and imagined taps with brief visual stimuli presented at a constant rate, alternating between left and right index fingers. Brain potentials were recorded from across the scalp and topographic maps made of their power at the alternation frequency between left and right taps. Two prominent power foci occurred in each hemisphere for both overt and imagined taps, one over sensorimotor cortex and the other over posterior parietal cortex, with homologous foci in opposite hemispheres arising from oscillations 180° out of phase. These findings demonstrate temporal isomorphism at a neural level between overt and imagined movements and illustrate a new approach to studying covert actions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The head-to-abdomen circumference ratio: a reappraisal

Our objective was to assess the clinical significance of the sonographically derived head-to-abdomen circumference ratio in small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses. The head-to-abdomen ratio was determined in 134 singleton SGA fetuses without ultrasound evidence of malformations at 26-40 weeks' gestation. Data were collected regarding antenatal surveillance, umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry and neonatal outcome. In SGA fetuses, the head-to-abdomen ratio, adjusted for gestational age, had a normal frequency distribution, positively skewed with regard to fetuses with normal birth weight. An elevated head-to-abdomen ratio was found in 56 SGA fetuses (42%), and was associated with increased perinatal mortality (odds ratio 3.27; 95% confidence internal 1.04-9.34), lower birth weight (1533 +/- 635 g vs. 2022 +/- 655 g, p < 0.0001) and lower gestational age at delivery (34 +/- 3.6 weeks vs. 36.3 +/- 3.6 weeks, p < 0.005). However, logistic regression revealed that the most powerful antenatal determinants of pregnancy outcome were Doppler velocimetry of the umbilical artery, followed by biophysical profile, while no independent correlation was found with the head-to-abdomen ratio. The existence of two distinct categories of SGA fetuses, 'symmetric' and 'asymmetric', remains uncertain. An elevated head-to-abdomen ratio is an adverse risk factor for pregnancy outcome. However, this parameter has no clearcut clinical value when umbilical artery Doppler velocimetry and biophysical antenatal testing are available.     

Knowledge of results and motor learning: A review and critical reappraisal.

Examines some critical definitional and experimental-design problems that underlie the principles of knowledge of results (KR) and learning, the KR literature, and how newer principles of KR lead to notions of how KR works in human motor-learning situations. KR is defined as augmented feedback, where the KR is additional to those sources of feedback that are naturally received when a response is made. Transfer tests, usually under no-KR conditions, are essential for unraveling the temporary effects of KR manipulations from their relatively permanent learning effects. When this is considered, the literature reveals findings that produce reasonable agreement, although there are a number of inconsistencies in studies examining the same variables. When learning vs performance effects of KR are separated, a number of contradictions occur; new principles that emerge include the notion that KR acts as guidance, that it is motivating or energizing, and that it has a role in the formation of associations. It is suggested that KR may guide an S to the proper target behavior, with other processes (e.g., simple repetition) being the critical determinants of learning. (4 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)